The Vanderhoof Airshow has come in for a successful landing.
That makes it two airshows in two weeks, both within an hour of Prince George that each came sailing through with flying colours. The first was Skyfest in Quesnel on Aug. 3 and 4, with Vanderhoof's one-day event happening Saturday.
"We calculated 3,700 people. It was about a thousand or 1,200 more than last year. It's too bad it was just so darn beautiful out," said Peet Vahi facetiously. Vahi was one of the key organizers of the second annual resurgent Vanderhoof Airshow (it previously existed in past decades but went dormant).
"We are still wrapping up the financial end of things, but it looks really positive, thanks to a great corporate response from Vanderhoof and Prince George. They were our saviours," Vahi said.
After the Vanderhoof Airshow's previous incarnation folded, some of the same organizers held a Prince George version for a few years and despite an ambitious performance menu, and thousands of viewers, it succumbed to debt. Vahi was an observer of both those previous attempts to run an airshow and said in the modern age, it is a small town like Vanderhoof that has the advantage over major centres.
"In a place like Vanderhoof, everyone involved feels they can relax," he explained. "People give us grace. The pilots and crews are amazing to us, the volunteers are amazing to us, the crowds really appreciate what they get to see. The performers loved it, too, because they are front and centre in a small town airshow, as opposed to just being another hired gun."
Vahi said the kids were especially drawn to the skilled stunt men and women and their meticulous ground crews. The machinery and skills were an intoxicating combination for young and old alike but he was gratified to be part of fostering an appreciation of aero professions.
"It gives our little airport a lot of exposure, too," Vahi said. "We have a beautiful facility and we want to show it off. We are making more improvements all the time. The municipality has really invested in it, the provincial government stepped in and got us all the fancy systems. You can fly in blind, now, to that airport. Ten years ago it was in pretty rough shape, but we're back near the top again for airports in northern B.C."
With another success under their wing, the organizers are now going to explore what the next steps should be. Vahi said the all-volunteer team is convinced a one-day event is better for them than a two-day airshow, just to keep the financial and human resources compact, but there is contemplation of holding the air exhibition every two years.
Should that discussion develop, they would, said Vahi, be in touch with the Skyfest organizers to co-operate on the timing of each other's events. Quesnel's is already on a biennial schedule and Vanderhoof would have to balance the benefits and liabilities (bulk purchases of the acts versus dividing the audience, for example) of alternating with Skyfest or being in lockstep as they were this year.
